My significant other is a stellar student who is committed to studying, so he spends quite a bit of time each weekend in the library. Even though I work in a library, I love going with Jim to the library at CCSU and while he pores over his science books I catch up on my stack of new-ish fiction. These past two weekends I was able to read The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri (a beautiful story about the importance of names and the complicated search for identity experienced by Gogol–a first generation American born of Indian parents), The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (a story where a young girl who’s been murdered watches over the people she’s left behind from her heaven) and Gilead by Marilynne Robinson (every sentence in this book is exquisite–the narrative is presented as a letter from a dying 76 year old preacher to his young son).
Please read these books! I know it is easy for us to say we don’t have time to read, but if you add up all the wasted moments of your day (standing in line at the bank, sitting at the laundromat, waiting for TV shows to resume during commercial breaks) you’ll probably end up with at least 15 minutes where you could have been reading. Start carrying a book around with you and see what happens!
~Tricia is the youth librarian at OWL and loves books, movies, Motown, Bowie, knitting, blogging, 24, and learning how to be a better cook.
